– Controlling Employees Use of Email

The use of email has overtaken virtually all other forms of communication. Nowhere has it had greater impact than in the office environment. This one time novelty item has changed the pace at which business is conducted. However, this increased efficiency has come at a price. Many employers believe that email and internet abuse is costing them more than any other type of misconduct, including old-fashioned dishonesty and violence.

The liabilities for employers have ranged from damaging otherwise impeccable corporate reputations, to introducing viruses which can wreak havoc with employers’ internal computer systems. A more basic concern is that email also has enormous capacity to waste time that would otherwise be spent on legitimate workplace tasks. The majority of emails in the workplace are not work-related.